New Delhi: The Supreme Court recently said it would not permit any encroachment of sites where religious structures once stood in violence-hit Manipur. According to some estimates, nearly 250 churches had been vandalised and burnt down during the course of the violence.A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said on July 24 that the court would not permit any encroachments of land where religious structures once stood in Manipur while considering a report submitted by the Justice Gita Mittal Committee along with two videos, according to Bar and Bench.The committee, a panel of former high court judges appointed by the Supreme Court, was formed to oversee relief, rehabilitation and compensation for victims in the ethnic violence that has rocked Manipur.“The committee headed by Justice Gita Mittal has submitted its report along with two videos. The committee shall ensure that wherever a lawful structure existed, the site shall not be encroached upon. We have directed that no further encroachments shall be allowed at such sites,” Bar and Bench quoted CJI Kant as saying.Representing a Christian church group, advocate Shahrukh Alam had said that in the vandalisation that took place, everything was looted, including the title documents; some churches are even being used as gyms, she had said.Alam is allied with ADF India, a legal advocacy organisation that advocates for religious freedom and the sanctity of human life. According to ADF India, Alam, along with another senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, had raised four key issues related to this: the reconstruction of churches vandalised in the violence, preventing fresh encroachments, addressing existing encroachments and the loss of church records and title deeds.As per ADF India, the court permitted affected churches to submit details of encroached properties to the Justice Gita Mittal Committee for verification and appropriate action to protect lawful church properties.The court was hearing several petitions linked to violence in the state. Along with proposing special courts to expedite trials, it also extended the term of the Justice Gita Mittal Committee till March 31, 2027.The matter will now be listed on August 10, along with other connected petitions.In 2023, a bench of the Supreme Court including the then-Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had asked the Manipur government what actions it was taking to protect places of worship that had been vandalised during the course of the ethnic violence in the state. It had asked the state to furnish information on restoring these places of worship.The court had been hearing a plea by the Meitei Christian Churches Council, which said that 247 churches in the state had been vandalised during the course of the ethnic violence, and urged that they be restored.In June 2023, the Archbishop of Imphal Dominic Lumon had said that there were at least ten instances of institutions under the Catholic Church being attacked since the violence in the state broke out, and that 249 churches belonging to Meitei Christians had been destroyed within 36 hours since the start of the violence. He had also questioned the role of the government and the armed forces in failing to maintain peace in the state, per this news report by Indian Express.